Former Media Producer Fed Up With The Bias In His Industry

Greg Kandra, a former CBS writer and producer for 26 years, is done excusing the liberal bias in the profession he worked in for a quarter of a century.

He brings up the inexcusable edit of the Zimmerman 911 call and the most recent Andrea Mitchell edit of the Romney video:

I’m tired. Truly. I’ve grown weary of trying to defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable. For years, people have stomped their feet and pounded their fists and snorted “Liberal media bias!” and I’ve always tut-tutted and shooshed them and said, “No, no. Calm down. They meant well. It was just a misunderstanding. A mistake. These things happen.” I spent over 25 years working in the oft-reviled Mainstream Media and I saw up close and personal how the sausage was made. I knew the people who wielded the knives and wore the aprons, and could vouch (most of the time, anyway) for their good intentions.

But now?

Forget it. I’m done. You deserve what they’re saying about you. It’s earned. You have worked long and hard to merit the suspicion, acrimony, mistrust and revulsion that the media-buying public increasingly heaps upon you. You have successfully eroded any confidence, dispelled any trust, and driven your audience into the arms of the Internet and the blogosphere, where biases are affirmed and like-minded people can tell each other what they hold to be true, since nobody believes in objective reality any more. You have done a superlative job of diminishing what was once a great profession and undermining one of the vital underpinnings of democracy, a free press.

33 Responses to “Former Media Producer Fed Up With The Bias In His Industry”

Everett Maysey

I get your posts on Facebook and isnt it interesting more Liberals are starting to become fed up with the biased media BS? I’ve had neighbors tell me they are ashamed they voted for Obama the first go around and wont this next one. This guy here was a media reporter … seems odd to me “truth is stranget than fiction.” I am an unashamed conservative who is well educated and knows how to think for myself. I even talk to Liberals and listen to them, but for the most part all I hear is oral bowel movements over their need to get some WI cheese to go with their wine …

Randy

johngalt

Probably some integrity, Randy. I imagine there are many who have leaned to the left with good intentions present, and much like the Stockholm Syndrome, have come to identify with and believe in their captors. However, most people can only be taken so far from reality and truth before they revolt. This is what has happened here.

Hard Right

You have successfully eroded any confidence, dispelled any trust, and driven your audience into the arms of the Internet and the blogosphere, where biases are affirmed and like-minded people can tell each other what they hold to be true, since nobody believes in objective reality any more. You have done a superlative job of diminishing what was once a great profession and undermining one of the vital underpinnings of democracy, a free press.</

So he is mad because he THINKS that they have driven people to be more biased, less informed, and more polarized. Those who get their info from the internet are closed minded and polarized because we don’t believe in “objective reality”? Ha! No, we have a pretty good grasp on reality and it’s why we avoid the leftist media.

Greg

MSNBC’s current function is to counterbalance the FOX News propaganda network and right wing talk radio propagandists such as Rush Limbaugh. It’s actually sort of a David vs. Goliath match, with the right whining about David suddenly utilizing some of their own tactics.

Curt, it’s a simple answer to your final question, “My only question is, what took him so long?

Cash… it’s a lucrative career position. But at some point, an evening’s sleep, with a clean conscience, starts becoming more important.

But please note that Kandra already spent almost three decades in the biz, amassing and potentially reinvesting his rewards. He can well afford to be an ideologue at this stage of his career. I doubt, as a newbie, he’d do the same.

Ultimately, in the industry, it will just be another example of the ol’ adage, “you’ll never work in this town again”. But at this point, it’s unlikely he has to care. But it is likely to give him a jumping point, like Bernie Goldman, to a different and also lucrative career.

Mr. Irons

Hey if making false material and stating it true at MSNBC is considered balancing out FOX, then keep at it. ComCAST will have to re-evalutate employee contracts with MSNBC just like they did with Kieth Olbermann.

Skookum

The painted whores of Obama’s propaganda machine screwed up when they went balls to the wall in their support of a clueless ideologue. They have lost their audience, they play their game to dolts and the rest of the world is laughing at them. Is it no surprise, some of them to abandon ship rather than going down in history as accessories to the most corrupt administration in the history of the US. Salvage some dignity, before the great purge of Leftist Ideologues pretending to be journalists begins; there will be n fat salaries and bonuses once the real money men realize the world has lost respect for these purveyors of propaganda. These guys better start learning a legitimate trade, Obama won’t be granting unlimited checks to unemployed propagandists in the future.

gracie

Well, they’re are no virgins in the media, that’s for sure. Print, radio, and TV people have been slicing & dicing and cutting & pasting for decades.

The safest thing to do — especially for stories/issues you’re really concerned with — is to read the full transcripts and to watch the full video segments. Beware choppy quotes, quotes out of context, and video clips that end just when the speaker pauses for breath!

Common Sense

keema

Journalism is an honorable profession; further, it is a necessary component of a free and functioning democracy. When a nation’s press loses its freedom, the rest of the citizenry will follow. An excellent Web site to review such data is Freedom House.org.

The American press of WWII bears almost no resemblance to today’s MSM. One wonders if the axis powers could have been defeated with today’s MSM at the helm.

In the book, “Necessary Secrets: National Security, The Media, and the Rule of Law,” author Gabriel Schoenfeld writes the following:

“In June 1943, editors and broadcasters were asked to refrain from public discussion of ‘new or secret military weapons or experiments.’ The censorship mandate proceeded to lay out extremely sensitive information… Journalists, conceiving of themselves in that distant era not as neutral observers but as an integral part of the war effort, were eager to comply.”

In those days, word slingers didn’t graduate from elite schools of journalism. Rather, they came from backgrounds that mirrored the working classes. As such, their values and beliefs were in sync with mainstream America. Only later, as the old-school journalists retired, were they replaced by the younger and more privileged. Ramifications of this changing of the guard include the recent national security leaks.

annie

The world has changed and so hasn’t the media…I used to watch all of them and then after the 2008 election I will never go back they are truly disgusting. They are like shock and awe. They only report what they want and not what we need to hear just because they are in the tank for Obama….

chipset

Media bias is all around. The worst is when the bias goes unnoticed.

Bias comes in many forms. For example, the overt bias. This might be misleading information which, while factual, has skewed the intent of the messenger. This happens all the time. Such as taking someone out of context, or MSNBC showing images that Drudge has used without the context of the stories linked to it. And it is pretty easy to debunk.

Then there’s misinformation. This could be inadvertent or intentional. You never know. Fox has, at times, listed someone as being a Democrat. Honest mistake? Maybe. Maybe not.

Then there’s more discreet bias. For example, telling only part of the story to fit a narrative. For example, the news surrounding Eric Holder’s Fast and Furious operation. Some would have you believe that the Bush administration did the exact same thing as the Obama administration. Not quite true, as all the controls were removed in the Obama administration. This could be sloppy reporting or it could be bias.

First Thoughts: Obama’s back against the wall (again)
First Thoughts: Here’s your economic anxiety

No images or videos available. But it did show a Bing web results. But if you limited your search to MSNBC, you’d be ignorant of the issue.

Compare that to Fox News:
Showing results 1 – 10 of 6589 for warren cherokee. And that’s just for Fox News.

This shows that MSNBC has no interest in covering the story.

Or how certain stories are pushed more than others. For example, Cindy Sheehan. She was all the rage during Bush’s administration. During Obama’s, she is sidelined. Or what about Code Pink?

Another bias is how stories are portrayed. The narrative for the Tea Party is that they are racists. But Occupy movements are all about equality? Really?

Or how about when a Republican is caught in a scandal, it is right at the top of the story. However, you often have to read deep into the article to determine if the person is a Democrat. I didn’t believe this one at first, but I noticed it in story after story.

Doing a search for Larry Craig Scandal, the first article (not wiki) from The National Ledger, his name and political affiliation is listen in the first sentence.

(For the record, I did two basic searches and chose the top result, much as anyone who uses the web might do. I did not search for a search that resulted in the results I wanted).

@Greg,

There are differences between radio, television and the blogosphere. Simply put, liberal minds tried the entire radio thing and it turned out, no one tuned in. This is a result of the format and the people who listen to it.

When it comes to TV, there’s a large liberal bias. If you look, you will see a systematic bias against those who are more conservative, be it fiscally or socially. And those who are conservative are typically considered outcasts. How many times has Obama gone to a hollywood fundraiser?

In the case of Fox, there’s a difference between opinion and news. O’Reilly, opinion. News segments, news. Some people might get the two confused because they are on the same channel. But, then again, some consider Jon Stewart news.

To say that MSNBC is to counterbalance Fox News, there’s a reason why Fox News exists and thrives… people are getting the information (or bias) from the source they want. And more people prefer Fox News over MSNBC.

MOS 8541

Just when you though the insantiy could not get worse,

Just when you thought the Obama campaign couldn’t get any more desperate, they come up with this: the Obama Event Registry, asking supporters who are getting married, having a birthday, or celebrating an anniversary to direct gift-givers to Obama’s re-election website:
Got a birthday, anniversary, or wedding coming up?
“Let your friends know how important this election is to you—register with Obama 2012, and ask for a donation in lieu of a gift. It’s a great way to support the President on your big day. Plus, it’s a gift that we can all appreciate—and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl”
This piece of garbage will be asking for your daughters and children to be sold to his muslim friends for slaves.
A good looking, Ameican blond, 14-18 goes for over $1 million US.
Imagine..selling your children…BIG TAX credit…if hyou only make $40,000/year and opie sells your daughter for $1million, minus broker fees and HIS RELECTON FEE..a tax credit of $500,000.00 is not to b ad.
Smile America..your home, your paycheck and your soul will soon his…….

ilovebeeswarzone

MOS8541
HOPEFULLY IT WON’T HAPPEN,
THERE WILL BE A RACE FOR THE VOTING BOOTHS ON NOVEMBER,
by the angry PEOPLE OF AMERICA young and old,
IT IS BUILDING NOW AND EVERY SPEECH OF OBAMA TURN EVERYONE ANGRY TO LISTEN TO ONE WHO IS SO DESPERATE TO BE RE-ELECTED,
but he has nothing to be proud of claiming, except the order to kill a SICK OLD FOOL previous murderer reduce to be IMPRISONED IN HIS CONCRETE HOUSE WITH HIS MANY WIVES AS HIS GUARDIANS WHOM HE THOUGHT WOULD DIE FOR HIS SEXUAL ACTIONS SOME NIGHT OF ORGY, HE ALREADY WAS DEAD,
WHAT A TROPHY FOR OBAMA TO CARRY AS A FLAG OF FREEDOM FOR AMERICA,
COMPARE WITH THE COFFINS COMING BACK WITH THE BRAVEST REMAINS ALL KEPT SECRETS
TO THE YOUNG AMERICANS unaware that they are not protected in this AMERICA WHERE OTHER GANGS ARE CLAIMING THE STREETS THEIR OWN DOMAIN AND SAYING TO THE YOUNG STUDENTS UNAWARE; STAY OUT OR DIE. all this under the benevolent protection of what we hear the young call him; MY PRESIDENT, WHICH COULD NOT CARE FOR
ANY ONE’S life ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STREETS

DrJohn

ilovebeeswarzone

DrJohn
hi, yes I thought it was over the top, I kept thinking not from DrJohn,
of course sometimes anger get us to over talk.
bye
you could delete the w and put ible at the end
how about horribilis?
it’s less personal

petercat

At one particularly low point in my life, I became a new car salesman. I made good money, had decent hours, didn’t work too hard. But then, one morning, while looking in the mirror, I realized that I really didn’t like or respect the man that I saw there. So I quit.
Sounds like Greg Kandra has had the same epiphany that I did.

DrJohn

ilovebeeswarzone

YES, AND MANY DO DESPISE HER ALSO, IT IS ENOUGH TO GET ANGRY AT HER BEHAVIOR TAKING OPPORTUNITY OF HER JOB TO BADMOUTH A PERSON OF INTEGRITY, BUT IT’S NOT WHAT SHE PRACTICE HERSELF,
SHE CAN GO VERY LOW AND WILL HAVE TO BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH ARE BEGINNING TO RISE, THAT’S HER LOST OF CREDIBILITY, NEVER TO RECUPERATE ONCE IT’S GONE,
AND SO MANY PEOPLE HATE HER ALREADY, AND IT REFLECT ON THE MEDIA SHE WORK FOR. SHE ALREADY BECAME A FALLING LEAVE FROM THE TREE,
BYE

Hard Right

It’s actually sort of a David vs. Goliath match, with the right whining about David suddenly utilizing some of their own tactics.

Good lord greg. Did you write that or is it a quote from another leftist mental patient?
The leftist MSM controls all the major news outlets except one. Pretty much the same thing for newspapers. The only area where it’s isn’t just like that is talk radio, but only because we have more of a presence. The fact is, liberal NPR still dominates the radio ratings. Anyone who thinks that makes the MSM “David” is on crack.

keema

Below is a sound recording link featuring President Kennedy speaking before the American Newspaper Publishers Association. The title of April 1961 speech was, “The President and the Press.”
The speech includes references to the Bay of Pigs invasion; the cold war; national security and defense; and the news media.

FAITH7

People should have paid a hell of a lot more attention Chris Matthews…”yes” surprise! surprise!… but this was at the onset several years ago when Matthews was in very- very- very -very rare form….the rarest I have ever in my short period of oh about 10 minutes of watching him….

….at ONE TIME, Chris Matthews was actually asking ‘hard questions’ like this [Video] to supporters of Ofraud….My huge question is WHAT CHANGED HIM???? Almost over night with a thrill going up his leg and smut like that??!!??. What changed him from this video…to the Far Far Left??? He had to be at least a little moderate when this was aired…

“Even Chris Matthews was surprised when the Obama campaign’s own surrogates are left utterly stumped when asked to list his legislative accomplishments as a Senator…”http://youtu.be/PGeu_4Ekx-o

ilovebeeswarzone

FAITH 7
I like that, nothing to say about OBAMA’S ACCOMPLISHMENT,
NONE, NIENTE, PAS DU TOUT, NOR, NORIENTE,
ALLELUIA
THANK YOU FOR FINDING THAT RARE BIRD,
BYE
WE HAVE TO KEEP IT ALIVE FROM NOW TO NOVEMBER
KEEP IT HANDY